The roaring twenties were awash with new ideas for making the world a better place: women's right to vote, prohibiting the production and consumption of alcohol, jazz music, Wobblies. The many calls for change indicated a disparity of power and a period of social unrest. In an effort to quiet the economic unrest of the 20's, many states implemented Syndicalism laws which prohibited the promotion of organizations dedicated to crime (socialism). The Industrial Workers of the World (IWW or Wobblies) was the most aggressive organization, in the 20's, dedicated to labor unions and other anti-capitalist ideals. Criminal Syndicalism laws allowed states to bring criminal charges against IWW promotors who encouraged factory workers to join the union. Fiske (of
Fiske v. Kansas) was prosecuted by the Kansas Attorney General and was found guilty of "'
knowingly and feloniously persuading, inducing and securing' certain persons 'to sign an application for membership in . . . and by issuing to' them 'membership cards' in a certain Workers' Industrial Union, 'a branch of and component part of the Industrial Workers of the World organization.'" (from 274 US 380). The US Supreme Court found that the Syndicalism law of Kansas to be "
an arbitrary and unreasonable exercise of the police power of the State" because it did not require a finding that the IWW was in fact a criminal organization.
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| "You have nothing to loose but your chains" |
The roaring twenties were awash with new ideas for making the world a better place: women's right to vote, prohibiting the production and consumption of alcohol, jazz music, Wobblies. The many calls for change indicated a disparity of power and a period of social unrest. In an effort to quiet the economic unrest of the 20's, many states implemented Syndicalism laws which prohibited the promotion of organizations dedicated to crime (socialism). The Industrial Workers of the World (IWW or Wobblies) was the most aggressive organization, in the 20's, dedicated to labor unions and other anti-capitalist ideals. Criminal Syndicalism laws allowed states to bring criminal charges against IWW promotors who encouraged factory workers to join the union. Fiske (of Fiske v. Kansas) was prosecuted by the Kansas Attorney General and was found guilty of "'knowingly and feloniously persuading, inducing and securing' certain persons 'to sign an application for membership in . . . and by issuing to' them 'membership cards' in a certain Workers' Industrial Union, 'a branch of and component part of the Industrial Workers of the World organization.'" (from 274 US 380). The US Supreme Court found that the Syndicalism law of Kansas to be "an arbitrary and unreasonable exercise of the police power of the State" because it did not require a finding that the IWW was in fact a criminal organization. 
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